Jump to content

PREGAME: Rd 03 vs Sydney

Demonland
in Melbourne Demons

Featured Replies

I had initially wondered whether we were going to change things up and drop TMac. It’s risky no doubt, as JVR now clearly has to relief ruck, but it’s a different look forward of centre and means we go with two talls, Fritsch and at times Grundy. It’s not exactly short.

I like seeing Hibberd in, you’d imagine it means Brayshaw, Rivers or Bowey play further up the ground. Unless Hibberd runs with someone a la Dusty last year. 

Strange we haven’t named Tomlinson as an emergency. 

    • Like 4
     

    Wow. This smaller forward line is intriguing. Although if you don’t have Gawn then maybe don’t try exactly what you trying with Gawn.

    I think this CAN work if we embrace the quick movement and Brown gets to help out Fritsch deeper because the ball is coming down quicker. 

    IF Brown has to come up further and do what TMac does, this won’t work and we won’t score more than ten goals.

    • Like 2
    18 minutes ago, binman said:

    I am.

    You really set the bar low for our players. It's not good enough to be merely creating space for others, which is how you define T Mac's role.

    • Haha 1
     
    22 minutes ago, binman said:

    The Pies and the swans share simlar game plan (as do we now too for that matter) - ball in motion, get it forwad quickly, aggresisve kicks and use the corridor.

    In many ways that game plan was reaction to ours - it became obvious the only way to beat us was to playt fast so our defence couldn't get set.

    The way to beat their game game plan is huge pressure on every disposal, but in particular kicks. Press up to deny space, corall, chase from behind, harrass. Add clogging up the corridor as much as possible.

    The Swans' game plan fell apart under the Cats pressur einb the GF. The Pies did well to almost beat the Cats in the prelim - but ultimately lost it becuase their kicks to the corridor in the last quarter came unstuck. 

    My tip is that scoring will go down now as the early season fast bvall movment trend will diappate because if teams can't go with teams like the Pies, swans and the dees  - and by that i mean literally leg speed but also conditioning -  they will gte dimantled. And coaches dont like that.

    So i expect to see more game like last night where teams look to take th speed out of the game and make it a kick to kick, stoppage based slugfest and clog up the corridor as much as possible.  

    I suspect that trend wil start tonight because the Pies will cut the Tigers up if they just go head to head fast footy. The slippery conditions wil help the tigers turn the gamne into a scrap.

    As for our game, the key will be how much pressure we can apply.

    Pressure, pressure, pressure. 

     

     

    So does that mean the game will turn back to our 2021 GF winning game style? I’d be happy with that as we had teams on a string. 

    thank god we have changed the fwd line set up. Gawn, T Mac and Brown is too tall and not mobile enough 

    JVR, Brown, Fritsch should be better. we’ll have more runners and pressure too. 

    expect Trac to spend more time than usual fwd 

    • Like 3

    Grundy must play his total game Time as no.1 ruck, with JVR chipping in. No need for him to be resting forward.

    I'm rapt the coaching dept have made a statement at selection. People need to move on from our 21 premiership team.

    Edited by mo64

    • Like 4

    where are the Goody baggers?

    he never makes changes? he rewards mediocrity, has favourites. blah blah

    • Like 7
    • Clap 2
    6 minutes ago, mo64 said:

    Grundy must play his total game Time as no.1 ruck, with JVR chipping in. No need for him to be resting forward.

    I'm rapt the coaching dept have made a statement at selection. People need to move on from our 21 premiership team.

    Maybe. But if some had their way Ben Brown would have been ‘retired’ and not 5th in the Coleman…

    • Like 4
     

    Ita bold changes that I was desperate for last year. 

    McDonald dropped and backing in young McVee but also willing to bring in another rookie such as JVR.

    I like it.

    • Like 6

    Surprised TMAc was dropped given Gawn isn't playing but he can have no complaints. 

    I like the unpredictability. Keep the Swans on their toes. 

     

    55 minutes ago, deanox said:

    I feel like the public statement of dropping to make him an emergency is worse than telling us about an injury, don't you?

    Unless it’s about keeping it from the opposition?

    I dunno you’re probably right. I guess if he plays for Casey we will know. Maybe he just has missed too much footy and needs to get himself right. 

    • Like 1

    Looking at the emergencies you have to make Tmac the sub don’t you? If one of May, BB, Petty, Grundy or JVR get hurt we are up the proverbial. Tmac can basically fill on their roles and maybe the shorter sub minutes will suit him given he looks to be struggling with the foot. 

    • Like 6
    2 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

    Looking at the emergencies you have to make Tmac the sub don’t you? If one of May, BB, Petty, Grundy or JVR get hurt we are up the proverbial. Tmac can basically fill on their roles and maybe the shorter sub minutes will suit him given he looks to be struggling with the foot. 

    If he's struggling enough with his foot to not be in the 22 then he shouldn't be the sub either.

    • Like 5

    5 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

     

    Geez the compassion shown here is off the [censored] charts. You don’t know why Harmesy’s not available. Nor do I. But how about erring on the side of he may’ve suffered a personal loss, for example?

    Dead right WCW I was concerned about him as he seem a bit off his game lately A little compassion goes a long way

    • Like 3
    • Love 1
    1 hour ago, Gawndy the Great said:

    I know the positions here dont mean much, but Hunter on HB is interesting.

    Brayshaw may play midfield, but Hunter won't be playing half back.

    • Like 3
    23 minutes ago, drysdale demon said:

    Rumors are jus that, rumors.

    I don't believe there are ''rumours''.

    More likely it's speculation in the posters own mind that's been fuelled by yesterday's Channel 7 tweet.  Channel 9 confirmed that May returned to the field and completed the session.

    • Like 2
    14 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

    Looking at the emergencies you have to make Tmac the sub don’t you? If one of May, BB, Petty, Grundy or JVR get hurt we are up the proverbial. Tmac can basically fill on their roles and maybe the shorter sub minutes will suit him given he looks to be struggling with the foot. 

    Completely agree


    Tom will be our sub surely. Can play forward or back if required due to any in play injury. 

    • Like 1

    My only worry is Sydney defenders will double team Brown due to not having another solid senior body up forward.

    • Like 3
    11 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

    My only worry is Sydney defenders will double team Brown due to not having another solid senior body up forward.

    if our blokes lower their eyes we should have someone free

    • Like 3
     
    11 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

    My only worry is Sydney defenders will double team Brown due to not having another solid senior body up forward.

    Slow our ball movement and it won’t matter, pressure our mids to bomb away and it won’t matter.

    This is on the mids this week to keep us in the game.

    • Like 3

    I think this will be the first big test for the Swans defence this year after playing hawks n suns 

    they will need to be on top of their game to stop us scoring 

    and the swans’ forwards will have their work cut out for them too up against our elite defence 

    game will be won/lost in the midfield battle I reckon 

    fix up our clearance game after last weekend and we’ll be well in our way to a solid victory 

    • Like 1

    Guest
    This topic is now closed to further replies.
    Go to topic listing

    Featured Content

    • PREVIEW: Gold Coast

      The Gold Coast Suns find themselves outside of the top eight for the first time since Round 1 with pressure is mounting on the entire organisation. Their coach Damien Hardwick expressed his frustration at his team’s condition last week by making a middle-finger gesture on television that earned him a fine for his troubles. He showed his desperation by claiming that Fox should pick up the tab.  There’s little doubt the Suns have shown improvement in 2025, and their position on the ladder is influenced to some extent by having played fewer games than their rivals for a playoff role at the end of the season, courtesy of the disruption caused by Cyclone Alfred in March.  However, they are following the same trajectory that hindered the club in past years whenever they appeared to be nearing their potential. As a consequence, that Hardwick gesture should be considered as more than a mere behavioral lapse. It’s a distress signal that does not bode well for the Queenslanders. While the Suns are eager to remain in contention with the top eight, Melbourne faces its own crisis, which is similarly deep-seated but in a much different way. After recovering from a disappointing start to the season and nearing a return to respectability among its peer clubs, the Demons have experienced a decline in status, driven by the fact that while their form has been reasonable (see their performance against the ladder leader in the Kings Birthday match), their conversion in front of goal is poor enough to rank last in the competition. Furthermore, their opponents find them exceptionally easy to score against. As a result, they have effectively eliminated themselves from the finals race and are again positioned to finish in the bottom half of the ladder.

        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 3 replies
      Demonland

    • NON-MFC: Round 15

      As the Demons head into their Bye Round, it's time to turn our attention to the other matches being played. Which teams are you tipping this week? And which results would be most favourable for the Demons if we can manage to turn our season around? Follow all the non-Melbourne games here and join the conversation as the ladder continues to take shape.

        • Like
      • 276 replies
      Demonland

    • REPORT: Port Adelaide

      Of course, it’s not the backline, you might argue and you would probably be right. It’s the boot studder (do they still have them?), the midfield, the recruiting staff, the forward line, the kicking coach, the Board, the interchange bench, the supporters, the folk at Casey, the head coach and the club psychologist  It’s all of them and all of us for having expectations that were sufficiently high to have believed three weeks ago that a restoration of the Melbourne team to a position where we might still be in contention for a finals berth when the time for the midseason bye arrived. Now let’s look at what happened over the period of time since Melbourne overwhelmed the Sydney Swans at the MCG in late May when it kicked 8.2 to 5.3 in the final quarter (and that was after scoring 3.8 to two straight goals in the second term). 

        • Clap
        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 3 replies
      Demonland

    • CASEY: Essendon

      Casey’s unbeaten run was extended for at least another fortnight after the Demons overran a persistent Essendon line up by 29 points at ETU Stadium in Port Melbourne last night. After conceding the first goal of the evening, Casey went on a scoring spree from about ten minutes in, with five unanswered majors with its fleet of midsized runners headed by the much improved Paddy Cross who kicked two in quick succession and livewire Ricky Mentha who also kicked an early goal. Leading the charge was recruit of the year, Riley Bonner while Bailey Laurie continued his impressive vein of form. With Tom Campbell missing from the lineup, Will Verrall stepped up to the plate demonstrating his improvement under the veteran ruckman’s tutelage. The Demons were looking comfortable for much of the second quarter and held a 25-point lead until the Bombers struck back with two goals in the shadows of half time. On the other side of the main break their revival continued with first three goals of the half. Harry Sharp, who had been quiet scrambled in the Demons’ first score of the third term to bring the margin back to a single point at the 17 minute mark and the game became an arm-wrestle for the remainder of the quarter and into the final moments of the last.

        • Clap
      • 0 replies
      Demonland

    • PREGAME: Gold Coast

      The Demons have the Bye next week but then are on the road once again when they come up against the Gold Coast Suns on the Gold Coast in what could be a last ditch effort to salvage their season. Who comes in and who comes out?

        • Thanks
      • 267 replies
      Demonland

    • PODCAST: Port Adelaide

      The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 16th June @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect the Dees disappointing loss to the Power.
      Your questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show.
      Listen LIVE: https://demonland.com/

        • Thanks
      • 33 replies
      Demonland
    View All